


Glittering Darkness

by ikuzonos



Category: Dangan Ronpa, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, NDRV3 Spoilers, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/pseuds/ikuzonos
Summary: [Major Endgame NDRV3 Spoilers]They help each other get through the worst of it.





	Glittering Darkness

The needle slips. Maki hisses, nearly driving it into her finger, but escapes with only a graze. Unfortunately, blood leaks out from the pin prick, and she has to shove her finger in her mouth, lest she stain the white socks she was stitching.

Himiko is lying on her back on an armchair, playing some game about animals, and is completely enthralled by it. It won’t be worth trying to rouse her, then.

Maki gets to her feet, tossing aside her afternoon craft project - because let’s face it, she’ll discard it a week later - and retreats down the hall, into their bathroom.

Kaito is standing inside already, leaning close to the mirror and frowning at himself. Maki pushes past him and opens the medicine cabinet that hangs over their toilet.

“What’d you do?” he asks, turning to look at her.

Maki licks her wound, then says, “Stabbed myself like some kind of fucking moron. Where are the bandaids?”

Kaito responds, “Himiko used most of them. We might have a couple left, though. Here, let me look.”

Maki takes a step back, feeling like a child as he roots through the cabinet, until he finds the box and turns around to face her.

“Thanks, Momota, I can take it from-”

He cuts her off with a shaky smile, “Let me put it on. You won’t be able to do it with one hand.”

Maki scowls, “I’m not helpless!”

Still, she stands there, letting him seal up the slit on her finger with a bandage that has a pink horse on it. So much for dignity.

-

She shoots up in the middle of the night, the futon that they all share shifting slightly at the sudden movement. Sweat rolls down her temples, and her heartbeat is thumping enough to make her chest ache.

(a kama through the neck strangulation by toilet paper crushed by falling rubble and those are only the most prominent nightmares.)

A hand reaches out through the darkness and grabs her own. Maki looks over, breathing uneasily, to see Saihara sitting up too.

“Did you…” he breaks off when she nods, and squeezes her hand tighter.

Maki stays like that for a long while, trying to calm herself down. Saihara helps, and she’s thankful that she has him by her side.

He’s always been the voice of reason.

Saihara whispers, “Do you need anything, or do you want to try sleeping again?”

Maki’s voice cracks as she asks, “Will you… cut my hair?”

Saihara stares at her, “M-Me?”

“I don’t trust myself with scissors,” Maki mutters, rubbing her fingers together absently, “And I… I just have too many bad memories.”

Saihara nods quietly, “I understand. You go wait in the bathroom, I’ll go find some tools, okay?”

“Okay,” Maki says, shaking her blanket off and getting up.

She sits on the edge of the tub, and he snips off her twin tails with a pair of blue safety scissors. Himiko, for once, sleeps through their whole nonsense.

-

She lies sprawled across one of their counters, exhausted. Kaito stands at the stove, mindlessly frying eggs. It’s just about all that they eat, since none of them are good chefs.

Maki runs her fingers through her now short hair, expecting to find more than she does, and always falters at the realization. Her head feels lighter, though. That’s good.

“And… breakfast is ready!” Kaito says, sounding enthused for the first time in weeks, “Get off the counter, will you?”

Maki sticks out her tongue at him, but sits up and pushes herself off. She slides into the chair next to Himiko, who looks half asleep still.

Kaito places the pan on a plastic trivet that lies in the centre of the table, then shakes Himiko’s shoulder, “Hey, are you okay?”

Himiko mumbles, “D-Didn’t sleep very well.”

Maki says carefully, “I don’t think any of us did. But… don’t worry too much. We’re here if you need anything- all three of us.”

Himiko smiles at her, but her eyes are hollow.

-

The weather is shitty today, so they’re all staying inside and bundling up under sweaters and blankets. Himiko is leaning on Maki’s side, playing a game on her phone, while Maki has an old ‘classic’ novel open on her lap.

She’s not really reading, though. The book is awful.

“Hey, you two,” Saihara’s voice breaks the comfortable silence, “I brought some tea.”

Maki looks up to see him holding a tray with three mugs on it. She reaches out and grabs one, then passes another to Himiko.

“Thanks…” she mumbles, before taking a sip.

Maki has a drink of her own, before coughing violently as it scalds her throat.

Saihara winces, “A-Ah, yeah. It’s hot.”

Maki grimaces, “Thanks for the warning, Saihara. Real helpful.”

A smile flickers onto his face, before it’s replaced with one of embarrassment, “Sorry.”

Himiko chuckles for the first time in a solid month, so maybe her humiliation is worth it, Maki thinks.

-

Maki returns home from the corner store with enough groceries to get them through the week. After placing the perishables in the fridge, she sets the rest on the counter and stumbles over to the sofa. Saihara can do what remains.

Kaito is sitting there already, his knees held up to his chin. He doesn’t look very good, not even by his standards.

“What happened?” Maki asks, shifting herself around to face him, “You look like shit.”

“Thanks,” he mumbles, running a hand through his hair, “Sorry, it’s just… it’s one of those days where everything makes you feel terrible, even when nothing’s really wrong, y’know?”

Maki sighs, “Yeah. Yeah, I know. Do you need anything in particular… or do you want to talk? Or hell, be left alone?”

Kaito shrugs, “I dunno if I need anything, per say, but I’d like it if you stayed with me. I really like being around you, even if I don’t show it well.”

Maki smiles bitterly, “This is weird. What happened to you always saying ‘never show weakness’ and ‘man up,’ or whatever?”

Kaito’s expression becomes even more melancholic than it was before, “That… that mindset is dead now. Just like the person it belonged to.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” Maki insists firmly, reaching out to grip his hand.

Kaito lets out a long breath, “T-Thanks. I guess.”

Maki leans against him, still clutching him close.

-

“I want a horse,” Himiko states in the middle of Ikea.

Maki looks over her shoulder, putting down the novelty candles that caught her eye prior, “What?”

Himiko swings her legs back and forth, her heels hitting a quilt from one of the mock rooms. There’s an employee glaring at her for sitting on the bed, but she takes no notice. She repeats, “I want a horse.”

“Where would we get one of those?” Saihara asks.

Himiko replies, “I mean, they probably have them here. Maki says that this place has everything.”

“I didn’t mean it literally,” Maki says, “And… not to mention, where would we put a  _ horse?”  _

Himiko mumbles, “Didn’t think that far… I just thought it would… be a fun family project.”

“How on earth would that be a project?” Maki asks, raising an eyebrow.”

Himiko shrugs and looks at her feet.

Saihara smiles lightly, “Don’t beat yourself up, Himiko. It wasn’t a bad idea, or anything, it’s just… impractical, is all.”

Maki reaches into her purse and grabs her wallet, then tosses it at Saihara, “Why don’t you take her down to the food court area, and buy some… meatballs? I think that’s what Momota said they have there.”

Saihara fumbles with the wallet in midair, but manages to secure it in his hands, “S-Sure. Come on, Himiko. We can pick up anything else that you think is cool, okay?”

Himiko nods and leaps off the bed, much to the relief of the distant employee.

Maki smiles to herself, grabs the candle box that she put down before, and heads down the aisle.

When they leave later that day, Himiko has a four foot tall horse plushie in her arms.

-

Cadenza - the name that Himiko gave to her horse plush - is sitting on the kitchen counter with a straw hat on its head.

Maki stares at it, then adjusts it slightly so that it’s not crooked.

“What are you doing?”

Maki jumps and spins around, ready to defend herself against an accusation, when she sees that it’s just Kaito, with a tiny smile.

She mutters, “Just… nothing. Don’t tell Yumeno.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kaito replies, his fingers playing with a loose piece of string from his shirt.

He looks deflated, like a sad balloon.

Maki asks, “Hey… you don’t have to answer, obviously, but is there a reason that you don’t gel your hair up anymore?”

Kaito shrugs, brushing the follicles out of his eyes, “Not exactly? It kinda just… brings back the bad memories. And I don’t want to associate any part of me with that person.”   
“I understand what you mean,” Maki hums.

Kaito softens, “Yeah… That’s why you asked me to cut your hair, right?”

Maki nods, reaching up to run her fingers through the ebony tangles. Her stomach feels uneasy, but she doesn’t know why.

It must be another bad day, she decides.

-

Her handmade socks are finished, after hours and hours of painstaking effort. They sit loosely on her feet, but Maki doesn’t mind. They’re soft. Soft is nice.

She has the novel in her hands again, but her brain isn’t reading most of it. It’s still too boring to properly process.

Behind her, Himiko yells, “Shuuichi! Can you help me? I can’t reach the frying pan!”

“Coming!”

From the hallway, Kaito appears and heads over towards the redhead, helping her out. Maki hears her thank him, and continues trying to read the same sentence over again.

It never once strikes her as to why she saw the wrong person answer the call for assistance. 


End file.
